Norweigan Blackjazz Group Shining Rock Out on a Rock in Video for “Last Day”

Shining Videos

My palms are sweaty just writing this. When it comes to metal, few folks do it better than the Scandinavians. Case in point: Norway's Shining, a group that recently teased its upcoming album, International Blackjazz Society (October 23, Spinefarm Records) with a video for single “Last Day” recorded on a mountain with a ledge so precipitously formed it has its own name: Trolltunga. (Even if you don't speak Norweigan, you can probably guess what that means.)

From the looks of it, it could have been the last day for any of those involved in this shoot. The bass player takes his station near the tip of the rock, and his spindly legs, set wide apart in epic black metal stance, practically dare it not to fall off. Because, um, geological fissures, anyone? These guys made some noise, flying in a PA system and a power generator to amplify their sounds (with some fans and hikers looking on from a safe distance); if ever there were concerns about the structural soundness of this piece of rock, it was tested that day.

What's even more righteous about Shining is that, while rocking out on a stone slab 700 feet above a fjord, they throw in some free jazz. It's what they do—the eponymous blackjazz—but in this setting it just sounds so apocalyptic and hellbent. “Last Day” in particular, has a Foo Fighters “All My Life” phrasing to it, with some Ramstein and KMFDM thrown in. You've gotta to hear—and see—this for the full effect.